The player-empowerment era in the NBA has allowed athletes to do
so much more than just change teams when they feel it’s time to
move on from a situation. It has also led to athletes having more
opportunities and control off the court as well.
One of the best examples (in both areas) is Kevin
Durant.
While LeBron James may be credited with starting the
player-empowerment era with his move to Miami back in the summer of
2010, Durant put an exclamation point on it when he left Oklahoma
City for the Bay Area and joined the Golden State Warriors in the
summer of 2016. Durant has also followed suit on the business side
of things. While James’ business ventures may be more well-known to
date, Durant isn’t far behind in that regard.
Durant’s most notable endorsement deal is with Nike, with whom
he reportedly signed a 10-year contract worth up to $300 million back in
2014. He also has endorsement deals with Google and Alaska
Airlines, but things certainly don’t stop there for Durant. In
fact, you could argue that his endorsements aren’t moving the
needle much in comparison to his other business
endeavors.
Durant and his business partner, Rich Kleiman, own a venture
capital firm named Thirty Five Ventures, and that’s where Durant
has done incredibly well from the business standpoint.
Thirty Five Ventures has its hands in many different businesses,
some of which you may use on a regular basis. Durant and Kleiman
have invested in Lime Scooters, The Players’ Tribune, Robinhood,
Postmates, and most recently, Coinbase. According to its website,
Thirty Five Ventures has an investment portfolio spanning over 60
different companies.
Coinbase recently made waves as the company went public, and
made Durant and Kleiman’s investment worth over 53-times what they
originally put into the company back in 2017. Another one of their
victories on the same front came via a $1 million investment in
Postmates prior to its sale to Uber back in 2020.
“I know I’m just a basketball player, so I was smart enough to
hire people who are really good in that field,” Durant told our Alex Kennedy (via
HoopsHype) in 2018. “I can’t take all of the credit for that. I
have such a great team of people around me who have pushed me to
explore that field and learn more about it because, like I said,
I’m just a basketball player. That’s what I do and I usually don’t
want to do anything else. I’m happy when I’m playing basketball.
But I have to give a ton of credit to the people who forced me to
think outside of the box a bit because it’s changed my life and
made my life more interesting. It’s not for every basketball player
and it doesn’t always turn out this way, but for me, it was a
natural progression and things really worked out.”
But Thirty Five Ventures isn’t just about investing in things
like the aforementioned Coinbase and Postmates; it’s also a company
that creates and produces content -- and award-winning content, at
that. Durant isn’t the first star athlete to enter this space, but
it’s something he and Kleiman have done incredibly well and it’s
paid off.
“All of the amazing athletes who succeeded in business –
from Magic Johnson to Michael Jordan to LeBron
James – brought something different to the table and they continued
to evolve and learn from those before them,” Kleiman told HoopsHype back in 2018. “LeBron
laid out such a great blueprint: He looked at brand deals
differently, he valued quality over quantity and he realized that
athletes of this caliber are global brands so they should have
equity in these businesses. Kevin learned so much from LeBron. Now,
Kevin is building his own business in his way, and he will evolve,
bring something new to the table and inspire the people after
him.”
Durant and Kleiman have been able to learn from James in some
aspects, as James has a production company of
his own and regularly helps out with content, not to mention
starring in the upcoming “Space Jam 2.” As for Durant and Kleiman,
the pair recently won an Academy Award for their work on the short
film “Two Distant Strangers” in the ‘Best Live Action Short’
category. Thirty Five Ventures also sold a show to Apple TV plus
called "Swagger,” which is a drama series that’s based on Durant's
youth basketball experience.
Beyond that, Durant and Kleiman have created “Boardroom,” which
is somewhat similar to LeBron’s “The Shop” on HBO, but it focuses
more on the business side of things. The show has featured the
likes of Malcolm Jenkins, David Shaw, Justin Tuck, Brandon
Marshall, Nick DePaula and many others. They talk about everything
from how coaches game plan, to how sneaker deals work, to how
athletes are able to build their own brands and more. This might be
where Durant’s future in business looks the brightest, at least in
terms of creativity. Recently, Durant and Kleiman have also
expanded the Boardroom brand by creating new shows, launching their
website and collaborating with Sports Business Journal on a print
product.
Another thing Durant and Kleiman have been involved with is
Overtime, a media outlet with a huge social media presence. The two
have been backing the company for several years, and reportedly
invested over $10 million. They’ve also created content for
Overtime and have been helping behind the scenes as well. Now, the
company is launching Overtime Elite, which will serve as
an alternative to high school for elite basketball prospects with
NBA futures.
When it comes to Durant’s business endeavors, he’s taken a
behind-the-scenes approach to certain companies and a hands-on
approach with others. While his basketball career continues to be
one of the best out there, his post-NBA career is shaping up to be
just as fascinating.